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Hawaii Lawmakers Consider Banning Smoking on Beaches

HONOLULU, Feb. 12 - Visitors flock to Hawaii's shores to snorkel, surf and sink their feet into the white sands of the state's beaches. But often the beauty is marred by the seemingly indestructible cigarette butts cast away by smokers.

Some state lawmakers want that to stop. Under a bill before the Legislature, smoking would be banned on public beaches and in parks, and cigarette butts would have to be tossed into trash bins. Violators could be fined $250.

Several municipalities, including San Francisco and Honolulu, already have some sort of ban. But Hawaii would be the first state to have such a law on its books. Others, including Delaware and California, recently failed to pass similar legislation.

State Representative Kirk Caldwell, a Democrat and the author of the bill, said smoking went against his idea of enjoying the great outdoors.

"When you go to the beach, don't you think of being in the sun, feeling the wind, feeling the sun on your skin, being in the water?" Mr. Caldwell said. "And then there's someone sitting next to you smoking -- smoke's drifting down into your face."

However, he said that when Hawaii counties banned smoking in restaurants a few years ago, tourists did not stop coming, as opponents had warned. Reports from the National Restaurant Association showed a 3 percent increase in restaurant revenues in 2003, after bans on Oahu, Maui and Kauai took effect.

Yujiro Kuwabara of the Japan Travel Bureau said the bill was unlikely to meet much opposition or surprise from foreign tourists. Even in cigarette-friendly Japan, smoke-free pedestrian areas have been set up in the nation's capital.

"As long as we explain the reason to the tourists, I think they will understand," Mr. Kuwabara said.